“As a mom, I have to make sure I’m making sound decisions” — Nicki Minaj reveals she has been advised to cancel Romania show over safety concerns

Super Bass hitmaker Nicki Minaj announced the cancellation of her performance at the SAGA Festival in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday, July 7. She revealed on X that the decision was made due to safety concerns.

Explaining in detail, the rapper tweeted:

"As a mom, I have to make sure I’m making sound decisions for me to make it home to my son and for my team to make it home to their families."

Minaj's team advised her to cancel the show due to concerns regarding protests in the area. Activists in Romania were reportedly set to protest the government's fiscal policies the following morning.

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Nicki Minaj canceled her SAGA festival performance due to concerns regarding protests

Just hours before her scheduled performance as the headliner at the SAGA Festival in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday evening, Nicki Minaj announced her withdrawal from the event. She shared the news on X, explaining:

"Out of concern for the well-being of our team and myself, I have been advised by my security detail not to travel to Romania’s festival tonight due to safety concerns regarding protests in the area. I look forward to seeing you all at another time."

Nicki Minaj stated that she made her decision keeping in mind her responsibility as a mother and her responsibility to ensure the safety of her team. Minaj added:

"To not heed the advice of security at this time is simply not what I think I should be doing. I love you and thank you for your understanding and support. I am very excited to see my fans this Friday in London for another very special headlining show at Wireless Festival."

Nicki Minaj was initially scheduled to perform from 10.55 pm to 12.10 am local time on Sunday. According to TMZ, Romanian activists were planning to protest the government's fiscal policies by marching to the town center in Bucharest on Monday morning.

The official Instagram account of the SAGA festival confirmed Minaj's cancellation by re-posting a screenshot of the rapper's tweet. The organizer announced that Nicki Minaj's backing out had "nothing to do" with SAGA and was "beyond" their powers. SAGA explained in the caption of its post:

"The news has left us all devastated, and we know it’s a huge disappointment for all of you, just as it is for us."

It further added:

"All unscanned 1-day Sunday tickets & Choose Your Day Tickets will be fully refunded. All scanned 3-day Pink Tickets & 1-day Sunday tickets will be partially refunded."

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Hardwell dropped out of the SAGA Festival due to production issues

Nicki Minaj was not the only artist who had issues with the festival. Call Me a Spaceman hitmaker Hardwell, who was supposed to be the DJ Headliner for Friday, July 5, quit his performance mid-set due to production issues.

Videos shared online showed a crowd of people standing around Hardwell's booth, seemingly working on a technical issue. The DJ was then filmed grabbing the mic and stating:

"They didn't pay me any f**king money to be here tonight, but I'm still here. I'm still here. I'm here. I'm f**king here. And everything is f**king s**t. Nothing is working."

Hardwell further added:

"Listen SAGA, if I'm here for you guys, I want to perform for you guys. The whole equipment, everything is letting me down. I can't perform. It's impossible for me to perform. The whole DJ booth is s**t, it's f**king s**t. I'm so sorry, I have to cancel this show. And f**k SAGA Festival."

The official Instagram account of the SAGA festival responded to Hardwell with a post starting, "Well, Hardwell." The festival organizer apologized for the DJ not being able to play and claimed that the equipment traveled from the Netherlands just like him, further stating that the set was working fine for Will Sparks.

The organizer further added:

"We’ve worked so hard to build this year’s SAGA for our artists and ravers. We would’ve solved any technical issues effortlessly and fast, if you would’ve let us and not stopped your set so soon. We’ve done all we could to accommodate your requests, including agreed payments."

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After Nicki Minaj's cancellation for Sunday's wing of the festival, Armin Van Buuren was scheduled as the DJ headliner for that day.